A wide variety of diseases associated with the human ear have been identified. In children, otitis media is one of the most common pathologies. By itself, otitis media is a significant affliction, which can lead to serious long-term hearing and learning disabilities if not promptly diagnosed and treated with antibiotics. However, overdiagnosis of otitis media is problematic as well, since it causes unnecessary prescription of antibiotics, and excessive hospitalization.
Two major medical conditions are mistakably diagnosed as otitis media: the first one is a healthy ear, in which no medical therapy is of need. The second one is serous otitis media which is an allergic reaction or which is caused by a virus. Not only does serous otitis media cause the prescription of an overdose of antibiotics, it also requires a different treatment.
These ear pathologies are generally diagnosed using common diagnostic techniques, such as tympanometry or visual otoscopy.
Relating to otoscopy, it is quite clear that physicians should not rely solely on the otoscope to diagnose the medical condition of the ear. Otoscopy is largely subjective because it is a visual examination. Therefore, it usually results in overdiagnosis of otitis media.
Lately, the art of otoscopes has been contributed to by a number of systems proposing video technology. This type of otoscope is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,130 issued to Monroe at al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,839 issued to Lankford. Instead of viewing the ear through an eyepiece mounted on the otoscope, the physician views an image on the video monitor, but he still needs to diagnose the medical condition of the ear based on what he has viewed. Therefore, those otoscopes are limited, since they still rely on the diagnostic ability of the physician.
Since it was quite clear that physicians should not rely solely on the otoscope to diagnose otitis media, the use of confirmatory tests including tympanometry has grown. However, tympanometry may be painful and needs the cooperation of a sick child. Children with otitis media are frequently too uncomfortable to tolerate pressurization of the ear canal required by tympanometry, and are unable to be tested. In addition both tympanometry and visual otoscopy should be conducted by a highly trained physician, since it requires the interpretation of the results thereby diagnosing the medical condition of the ear. Since these techniques cannot be performed by non-medical or inexperienced personnel, efficient screening of children or infants at home or in a school is not possible with these techniques.
Therefore, there is a need for both a patient and a physician friendly instrument that enhances the ability to quickly and accurately diagnose otitis media and to clearly distinguish it from a normal ear or from an ear with serious otitis media.